William Blake's "London"

Summary: An overview of William Blake's poem "London" and how it falls into the category of the Romantic period.

I wandered through each chartered street,

Near where the chartered Thames does flow,

A mark in every face I meet,

Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every man,

In every infant's cry of fear,

In every voice, in every ban,

The mind-forged manacles I hear:

How the chimney-sweeper's cry

Every blackening church appals,

And the hapless soldier's sigh

Runs in blood down palace-walls.

But most, through midnight streets I hear

How the youthful harlot's curse

Blasts the new-born infant's tear,

And blights with plagues the marriage-hearse.

London by William Blake

The romantic era was one of war and social and political upheaval. It followed the Enlightenment period and was inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution with its ideals of Freedom, Equality and the Brotherhood of man. The French Revolution aimed to bring an end to traditional systems of government where wealth...